Jade was still fuming as she made her way onto the Caltech campus. The California institute of Technology, where her father had found her a job to continue their "agreement", had lousy parking for visitors. Hopefully she would get an assigned parking space, and with luck it would be somewhere nice. She had fought this tooth and nail until her mother had betrayed her trust by agreeing with her father that this job was just too good to pass up. Working at Caltech had so much potential.

She was early despite not wanting to be here. She felt like this was a risk. She was going to be an actress, or a writer, or a director, producer, or possibly all of the above. This job was better than her shifts at that diner she has been working for the last year. Junior year was ending, and she was not looking forward to the longer summer shifts with the ogling and pinching not to mention the police reports that would follow. She didn't need to be arrested again, having barely got off the last time. She hated the diner, but that job had helped her pay for her car, her clothes, and the various expensive things her friends liked to do. 'God how did they afford that lifestyle? Andre at least had a part time job.' Jade thought. Money was was more than good, it was necessary.

Jade stopped at a coffee kiosk to get directions and a large coffee.

"Your here. Listen carefully and don't talk back. I need to run a couple of errands so hold down the fort. I should be back before the next big rush." With that, the barista took off. Jade was pissed. When the barista got back, he was going to get an earful.

Jade wanted to just take off, but if she was working on this campus then she felt it best not to drive the coffee kiosk out of business. There would be time to abuse this loser later. So she was left there, to sell coffee to the students and lose herself in her thoughts. She qui8ckly ran through the various methods she would use to make this barista pay, but her mind wanted to be somewhere else, thinking about her family. She thought about her mother, and how it had been her mothers dream to make it in Hollywood. However, being marginally talented and willing to believe too much her mother had only secured bit parts before her father conceived her. He claimed for years that jade was the product of one of the castings her mother had gone to, a partially justified claim that Jade only admitted under duress. Two paternity tests later and they were a family, but the second test was with improved technology so Jade was old enough to be offended when they read the results. Her relationship with her father was never great, since by the time he believed she was his their pattern was set. Her father was there, but seemed to resent her. Her parents divorced when jade was 10, and jade still does not know if her father cares.

Jade was absorbed in her less than happy memories when, twenty minutes after leaving, the barista returned. "Why haven't you put on your apron?"

"And who do you think I am?" Jade asked while sending him a death glare.

"Y-your the new girl, right? I heard you telling someone on the phone you didn't want to work here." He was gaining confidence from his perceived roll. "Well, if you don't work, you don't get paid. Your attitude..."

"I don't work here!" she cut him off. She growled the next part "I was asking directions, you Butt-cheek. I work in the Physics department." turning to the growing crowd "Can anyone show me to the physics department." she re-filled her large coffee, put in two sugars, and walked off

She heard him say"You have to pay for that"

"Severance pay" she said as she flipped him off. Two boys (men?) offered to show her the way.

Five minutes later, she was outside the Physics chairs office. "so your a secretary? This a student job?" one of the boys asked. She ignored him.

"I have an appointment with Dr. Gablehauser" she said to the receptionist.

Before the receptionist could respond, the door opened and Dr. Gablehauser walked out. "Dr. West, I'm so glad you decided to come and join my faculty. Did you have trouble finding the place?" Jade just looked at him, her expression blank. "I was just going to check and see if you were lost."

"I just got caught in the line for coffee. The barista is a moron."

"Right.. Come with me and I will show you to your office." He led her, and the boys who seemed to need to follow along, up a floor and down a hall to a string of rooms. He stopped at the door marked 'Dr. Jadelyn West, PhD.' Dr. Gablehauser continued "As agreed you have a one cup coffeemaker as well as an assortment of coffee's at your disposal. A computer has been placed in your office for your research. You can reach it online, and it will be a place you can use to maintain connection to your coworkers since many of your documents may be too big for email. Also, it's more secure" He was smiling at the last part.

Jade looked around her new office. Placed next to a couple of labs, it was a glorified closet with no windows, a desk, two bookcases, her coffeemaker and computer, a little space on the other side of the desk for if she needed to meet with people, two whiteboards and some markers.

"Dr. West, I am beyond pleased to have you on the team. Now you know, in return for you being allowed to work mostly on line, you will be expected to help proofread some of the other research. That is right up your ally, right. The university has needed a good peer reviewer for a long time. But as a reminder, we will need more detailed comments then the 'check your math' you wrote for your Modern Physics journal critique of Dr. Coopers article on the magnetic frequencies variance in quantum attraction."

"Wait, What? Are you... Is she really a physics professor?" one of the boys stammered.

"Associate professor. Tenure has to be earned, even for someone as talented as Dr. West. But she does have both her masters in mathematics and her PhD in Theoretical Physics from UCLA. But the best part is She seems to be able to run complex equations in her head at a remarkable speed. She will save months of computer time as well as tons of money for the University." Dr. Gablehauser smiled.

"You told him why?" Jade didn't need to be reminded she was a freaky weirdo.

"Let it go, Dr. West. I feel like bragging just a bit. Two associate professors who got their PhD's at 16 is something to advertise. It helps the department. Why do you think I was so keen to get you." Jade didn't look please. "So let me show you around, meet some of your peers. Also, we will be having a little get together so you can meet your coworkers, say Saturday? Does that interfere with your schedule?"

"Just the Prom. Excuse me, 'Prome'. Wasn't planning on going."

"Excellent. It will give us a chance to officially announce your presence. We want your talents, your research, and your ability to express yourself. You write, yes? I hope this will be a win-win partnership" Dr. Gablehauser started to show her around.

Jade almost smiled. They were giving her the ability to have a life while working there. They had no idea how easy it was for jade to run the formula's, but that talent made jade very frustrated at her own work. The math just didn't always add up, and she was determined to find the way it did. So this job may be a gigantic pain in the ass, but it had it's perks. She was content to attend Hollywood Arts while doing her research and auditioning for the roll that would break her out of this nerd gig and let her shine. It would cut into her fun time just a smidgen, but the research for her other degrees had interfered as well and she worked around them. She could adjust.

The big perk was beyond the medical and dental. $90,000 per year was tempting, even if she would only get a little of it until she was 18. The family had scraped by long enough, with the two rent-to-own houses her dad's boss had gotten them (divorced, living separately) as well as other expenses, the family had been needing her to cover as much of her own expenses as possible. Despite helping out so her brother could avoid this chiz, paying down her student loans and having her father ration out her remaining funds, she would still have more money than she had had in her life. Plus in 14 months, she would be free and clear. Her debts would be paid (Thank you affordable California schools), she would be 18, and her life would be her own. Even helping out, she could afford a place for her and Beck. Jade smiled at that thought.

Jade was also thrilled that she made more raw income than her father. Her dad's boss helped them find discounts on everything, his business being partially finding such deals and reselling at market prices, and that had helped the family live above their income. But it would give her something to keep her dad off her back, since she would be earning so much money. She would finally be worth something in his eyes.

She smiled. It would not be that bad, as long as the nerds didn't infect her, she could survive. Unless her friends found out what her new job was. Jade was good at keeping secrets, but still she had to be careful. She had to be on campus for office hours even though she didn't teach classes. (she might teach one for extra cash, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it). They could never know. They must never find out what a freak she was. Even Beck, who thought he knew all her secrets didn't know about her PhD. That would ruin her image. But a summer job would probably go unnoticed.

And she could torment that annoying Dr. cooper.

:}

Not sure I got the attitude right. Not sure when I will write again. This story has potential, but I am VERY laze. Still, I will see how it goes. While I have no idea where this might go, just be warned, I ship Jori.